Wilkie Collins (Authors in Context)

Lyn Pykett

Part of the Authors in Context series within OWC, Wilkie Collins is a lively, accessible, and critically topical exploration of Collins's novels in relation to the age in which he lived, and in modern contexts such as the stage and television.

The book has critically useful discussions of Collins's major novels in relation to the law and criminality, especially the Victorian marriage and divorce laws, gender roles, the family, class and social mobility, empire and imperialism, and science and psychology.

Popularity of Collins's novels, and sensation fiction, makes the book timely, and recent adaptations such as Lloyd Webber's stage version of The Woman in White are discussed.

Includes a chronology of Wilkie Collins, further reading, websites, illustrations, and a comprehensive index.

Wilkie Collins (Authors in Context)

Lyn Pykett

Description

In a literary career spanning over forty years, Wilkie Collins wrote over twenty novels, several plays, and numerous short stories. However, he is mainly remembered for his best-selling sensation novel The Woman in White. Irregular liasons, the chaotic state of the marriage laws, social and psychological identity, and the interconnections between respectable society and the world of crime are recurring themes in Collins's fiction. In this lively, accessible, and critically topical exploration of his novels, Lyn Pykett looks at Collins's long and varied career in relation to the changing circumstances of his own life, a changing literary marketplace, and the changing worlds of nineteenth-century Britain, as well as his enduring legacy for modern writers and
interpreters.The volume includes a chronology of Collins's life and times, a comprehensive index, websites, illustrations, and suggestions for further reading.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Wilkie Collins (Authors in Context)

Lyn Pykett

Table of Contents

1. The Life of Wilkie Collins2. The Social Context3. The Literary Context4. Master, Servants, and Married Women: Class and Social Mobility in Collins's Novels5. Sex, Crime, Madness, and Empire6. Psychology and Science in Collins's Novels7. Recontextualizing Collins: The Afterlife of Collins's Novels